Ramsey school put in special measures after Ofsted inspection

Inspectors have placed a school in Ramsey under special measures after it was found to be underperforming in every category.

Ramsey Community Junior School in Station Road was declared “inadequate” at its recent inspection by regulating body Ofsted.

The visit in July said the achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching, and leadership and management were all inadequate while the other category, the behaviour and safety of pupils, was said to require improvement.

Pupils’ attainment in maths and English was “consistently below average” according to the report, and there was “consistent underachievement” in Key Stage 2 with not enough making the progress expected.

Attainment for pupils at the end of Year Six was said to have fallen sharply in 2012 where pupils left the school a year behind pupils nationally.

The report also said that it was the teaching which had led to underachievement for most groups.

It said: “Too much teaching is not good enough to ensure that pupils make the progress they should. Teacher’s expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low and the pace of learning is slow.”

The leadership and management category was also found to be inadequate, with the report saying: “Too many pupils are not adequately prepared for the next stage in their education because of weak teaching over time.”

However, the report said that pupils feel safe and well cared for at the school. The executive head teacher, Patsy Peres, was also said to have identified what is going well and what needs to improve.

It said: “She has very quickly set about improving teaching.

“Parents and carers have expressed confidence in her ability to move the school forward, but she has only been in the post for a short time.

“Although prompt action has been taken to improve teaching and to develop skills of the subject leaders, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of these actions on pupils’ achievement.”

It also highlighted the good relationships between pupils and staff: “In all lessons observed, good relationships were evident. Pupils were praised and encouraged for their efforts.”

School governors are now working with parents to set up a long-term solution for its pupils.

Ms Peres said: “This was obviously a very disappointing result but we have been working hard with staff, parents and pupils to make improvements and already are seeing the benefits of this.

“I would like to praise the work of all those involved in this process and made the school such a caring and safe place for pupils.”